Promoters join forces to seek 2 title fights in D.C.

May 14, 1991|By Alan Goldstein

The unlikely union of promoters Don King, Butch Lewis, Bobby Goodman and Rock Newman is working to stage two world championship welterweight fights at Washington's Convention Center in mid-August or early September.

If all goes according to plan, a King spokesman said yesterday, World Boxing Council champion Simon Brown and Maurice Blocker, both of whom live in suburban Washington, would be showcased in title bouts.

Brown would defend his title against James "Buddy" McGirt of New York, ranked No. 1 by the WBC and the International Boxing Federation. Blocker would fight Glenwood Brown of New York for the IBF title vacated by Simon Brown Thursday.

The show would be spiced by the appearance of unbeaten heavyweight contender Riddick Bowe, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who recently settled in the Washington area, the home of Newman, his manager, who would co-promote the event with King.

King, looking for high-profile attractions for his Kingvision pay-per-view telecasts, is the main player in the projected show. In the past six months, he has managed to entice Simon Brown and Bowe into signing contracts.

Brown knocked out Blocker, his former stablemate, in a unification bout at The Mirage in Las Vegas in March on the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Donovan "Razor" Ruddock heavyweight bout promoted by King.

Last week, King signed Bowe to fight Rudolfo Marin of Puerto Rico June 28, when Tyson and Ruddock meet again in Las Vegas.

"Right now, it's only a one-fight deal with King," said Newman, who has tried to keep Bowe free of any entangling alliances with major promoters. "But King said he would make it so attractive for us we wouldn't want to do business with anyone else."

Steve Wynn, who owns The Mirage, and independent promoter Loren Cassina of Canada acted as intermediaries to bring Newman and King together.

Simon Brown's story is a bit more complicated. The Supreme Court of New Jersey ordered him to defend his IBF title by mid-July against Glenwood Brown after Glenwood Brown, then the No. 1 contender, had agreed to step aside to allow Simon Brown to meet Blocker in their unification match.

But after Simon Brown abdicated his IBF title, IBF president Bob Lee declared the title vacant. McGirt and Glenwood Brown are now the IBF's top-rated contenders, but McGirt apparently is willing to challenge for Simon Brown's WBC crown, allowing Blocker and Glenwood Brown to square off for the IBF title.

"Yes, we talked about all this with King last week," said Bobby Goodman, director of boxing at Madison Square Garden, who also has promotional ties with McGirt and Glenwood Brown.

"Glenwood has been sitting around since December waiting for this situation to get ironed out," Goodman said. "He's anxious to fight, and he'd be willing to fight Blocker. The purse money isn't a big issue. He just wants a title shot."

Blocker is managed by Butch Lewis, who also reunited with King this year after a long period of mistrust. Lewis could not be reached for comment yesterday.

McGirt, sidelined most of 1990 with a shoulder injury, stopped Frank Montgomery in March. He will box journeyman Tyrone Moore in Charleston, S.C., June 15.

McGirt, a clever boxer-puncher who is the former IBF junior-welterweight champion, could prove a stern test for Simon Brown, who needed 10 rounds to dispose of the light-hitting Blocker.